The increasingly popular Phenom II range from AMD is receiving more processors, both dual and quad core parts. The successful Athlon II range will also see a new addition.

The recently released Phenom II X4 965 didn't go down too well due to it's 140W TDP, over the previous 125W TDP of the 955. However, AMD have responded and are releasing a 125W 965, with the same 3.4GHz clock speed, in Q4 2009. There will also be a second version of the 955 released, again 3.2GHz but with a 95W TDP. These are the final releases from the roadmap before the next revision of the Deneb core, which will bring existing TDPs down even more and pave the way for quadcore notebooks.

Also on the horizon for Q4 of 2009 is a 3.2GHz dual core part, featuring 6MB L3 cache, 2x 512kb L2 cache and a 80w TDP. The Phenom II X2 555 also retains the potential ability to unlock the "missing" two cores, to get a quad core processor for less. This is set to retail for around £70.

Finally, there are two new Propus based quad core parts, part of the Athlon II X4 family. The 600e and 605e, clocked at 2.20 and 2.30GHz respectively feature a 45w TDP, making them popular with the power saving crowd. The 600e is estimated to retail at around £90. The 605e is not available to purchase in the retail market just yet, although it is expected to show up in the OEM market quite soon.